Refrigerator display case



Feb. 17; l" 93l. c. B. LoNGsTRETH 1392343 nzrnmznmon DISPLAY cAss Filedsept. 23, 192s Y hl f3 Z 'if Q (Zarka famgdl''ef.

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Patented Feb. 17, 1931 v ,UNIITED *STTEES GHARLESYB. LONGSTRETH, or'DENVER, COLORADO l Y Y nnrniennaron. DisPLAY caen:

- "Application sied 'september 22,1929. serial No'. 394,446.

Hrlhisinvention relates to improvements in refrigerator display casesofthe type employed in stores for displaying perishable goods, suchv asmeats, dairy products, vege- 5 tables andfruits; Y 5 f It is the objectof thisinvention to produce a refrigerator display case of Va vsimpleand substantial construction,`which shall be so designedthat the goodscontained therein will be visible to the customers Vfrom the 'front ofthe casingand in which the goods displayed shall be snpported ontwosurfaces placed at different Alevels and preferably inclinedwith theVhorizontal so as to produce `a double display effect-that will give thecustomer a-better-opportunity of seeing and examining the goods thanwhen the goods are all supported on a single surface. Y

'It is another object of this invention to' 20 produce a displaycaseofthe type specified which shall be provided with a separate compartmentextending` the Ventire length ofthe -case along the lower rear portionof the refrigerator and within which` the refrigerating coils arelocated. This compartment is formed in part by a portion Vof the bottomand a portion of the rear wall and by a'metal plate which cooperateswith the rear Wall and bottom to form the other two sides of the-com- 39partment. By means' of thisv separate compartment, a smooth surface isprovided on Whichthe goods can be supported and which, owing to theconstruction which will hereinafter be more fully described, can beeasily kept clean. `By having the refrigerating coils enclosed in aseparate compartment, the mois-V ture which is always contained Withinthe display compartment will be kept from contact with the refrigeratorpipes, and therefore the accumulation of frost on the pipes-can be, to agreat extent, prevented, It is another object of this invention toprovide a display case in which the usual horizontal Awrap,ping shelf atthe rear has been dispensed with so that the Case' can be' made smallerand be constructed at a cheaper price without interffering` with thedesirable qualitiesthereof. By providing a separate compartmentfer therefrigerator pipes',the crd-- nary compartment that isyusually providedas the description proceeds.

for therefrigerant" can 'be dispensed with without decreasing thecapacity ofthe case,

all as will hereinafter become more evident ,The aboveV and otherobjects that may be- 55 icome apparent as they description proceeds,

are attained by means of a construction and an arrangement of partsthatl will now beA described'in detail, and for this purpose, referencewill be had to the accompanying drawing, in which the preferredembodiment has been illustrated, andin which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of my improved refrigeratordisplay case;Fig. 2 is a; transverse section taken on line Y -Fig. 3 is a transversesection tliroughthe refrigerator compartment showing the same 1n greaterdetail.

My improved refrigerating display case, ""0

`which will now be described, has been shown as supported on a base 1which Will not be described in detail as'it forms no part of myinvention, except to] the extent that it serves to hold the caseinproper position. The display case which forms the subject of thisinvention consists of a bottom 2 which is preferably made from boardsand a rear Wall 3,

which is also made from wood. A cork lining is connected to the top ofthe bottom B0 2, andfto the inside of the rear wall in the manner shownin Fig. 2.' 1A bottom stile 5) rests on the frontY edge of the bottom 2and extends upwardly a short distance above the upper surface'of thecork lining'. A mould- 35 ing 6 is secured to the innerside of the rearwall 3, A metal lining which is formed from two pieces 7 and 8` forms:the inner surface of thebottoln and the rear wall, and rests against theinner surface ofthe cork lining'. 90 The part designated by referencenumeral 7 is preferably formedfrom galvanized sheet Vand terminatesadjacent the front glass wall 9. The part designated by referencenumera! 8 is preferably construetedcf Mone'l nietaland is connected withthe plat?? 7 by -inearisof a; lock sea-ni joint 10 and has its les upperedge connected to the moulding 6 as indicated at 11. It Will be seenfrom an inspection of Fig. 2, that the cork insulation is thoroughlyprotected by the metal lining and that the insulation can therefore bekept dry so that its insulating properties Will be preserved. lThe caseis provided with end Walls l2 and 13 which are preferably formed f1 inopaque material, such as Wood or metal, that portion of the end Wallswhich has been designated by numeral 1d is formed from glass. A Woodenbar 15 connects the upper front corners of the Walls 12 and 13 and thisas well the part 6 is provided with rabbets 16 and 1.7 in which thedoors 18 are slidable. These doors are provided With glass panels 19 inthe manner shown in Fig. 2. The doors are ea h substantially one-ha fthe len gth of the opening that they close, so that by sliding one ofthe doors With respect to the other access can be had to the interior ofthe casing. A piece of plate glass 2O rests on the upper edges of thefront glass plate 9 and t ie end plates 1a and has its rear edge restingin a rabbet 21 in the bar 15. lt will be seen from the description abovethat the case has its Walls formed to a great extent from glass that theinterior thereof will be clearly visible. The rear inclined portion ofthe top is provided With a scale shelf 22.

For the purpose of co-oling the interior of this casing, a refrigeratorcoil, comprising pipes 23 is provided. l These pipes contain somerefrigerant and are usually connected with ordinary electricrefrigerating machine of any approved type, or they may contain brineWhich is circulated through. the pipes by means of a. suitable pump.These pipes may be supported by means of spaced suliporting members 24that are provided with openings through which the pipes pass. rlherefrigerating coil is located Within a. compartment which is formed inpart by the lower portion of the lining of the rear wall and the rearportion of the lining of the bottom. The other two Walls of thecompartment are formed from a single sheet of enameled sheet metal,which is bent so as to form tivo sides 25 and 26, Which extend at rightangles to each other, but which may also make an obtuse angle as theexact angular' relationship is not material. The lower edge of side 25is soldered or otherwise secured to the lining 7 at 27 and the rear edgeof the upper portion 2G is secured to the lining 8 along line 28. IfWater tight seams or joints are provided at -27 and 28, the moist airfrom the interior of the casing cannot enter the chamber and thereforethere Will be no accumulation of frost on thefrefrigerating coils. ItWill be seen from the drawing that after the top and front side of thecompartment have been'put in-place, that the entire bottom of the casingWill be formed by the smooth metal surfaces of plate 7 and sides25 and26always an accumulation of moisture to the i rear of and underneath thepipes which makes it very difficult to keep the case clean.

The upper surface of the part marked 26 serves as a support for the rack29 and the upper surface of the front portion of the bottom supportsanother rack 30. These racks are forwardly and downwardly inclined andare adapted to support the meat or other materia-l that is on display.By having the contents of the display casing on two different levels, adouble display effect is produced which greatly improves the appearanceof the case over what it Would be if the goods were supported ona singleinclined surface in the customary manner. In addition to improving theappearance of the case, it is apparent that the capacity has not beendecreased over what it Would be ifthe refrigerating coils were locatedin a compartment extending rearwardly beyond the rear Wall 3 in thecustomary manner, because the upper Wall of the compartment serves as asupport for the article to be displayed in the manner above described.

It will be noticed that the usual Wrapping shelf that is formed by theupper Wall of the refrigerator compartment has been omitted in thisdesign and the Wrapping is done on the sliding doors, as this has beenfound just as convenient as the level surface heretofore provided.

From the above description it Will be apparent that by providing achamber 'within the display case, and by having the refrigerating coilsin this chamber, a smaller display case can be used than has heretoforebeen thought practicable and besides decreasing the size, theconstruction has also been greatly simplified by the omission of therear- Wardly extending refrigerator chamber. The

horizontally and vertically spaced supporting surfaces give a muchbetter display effect for reasons above pointed out.

The construction above described, as has previously been mentioned,makes it possible to easily clean the inner surface of the case so th atit can be readily kept in a sanitary condition.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced arefrigerator display case which possesses several marked advantages overthe ordinary type of case, and which by the simple expedient ofproviding aeompartment for the refrigerating coils which is locatedwithin the body of the case, produces a case of much simpler designwhich still has as large a capacity as it Would have if the coils werelocated in a separate compartment. Y

n sheet whose edges are connected with the meti al lining of the bottomand the rear wall whereby an elongated compartment is formed for thereception of the cooling coils and whereby two separate supportingsurfaces are formed on different levels, the rear surface being higherthan the frontsurface.

2. A refrigerator display case having the rear wall, the bottom and aportion of the ends formed from opaque material and the top and frontside made in part of glass, the rear wall and the bottom having a metallining, the lower portion of the lining of the Y rear wall and the rearportion of the lining of the bottom forming twoY sides of aVVcompartment that extends the entire length of the casing, the other twosides of the compartment being formed from a sheet of'metal havingangularly related sides, the upper side being parallel with the bottomand having its edge secured to the lining of the rear Wall, the otherside being secured to the lining of the bottom, whereby twosupportingsurfaces are formed, the rear supporting sur- Y face being higher thanthe front supporting surface. n s

3. A refrigerator display case having a bottom and a rear wall formedfrom opaque heatv insulating material, the rear wall and bottom having asheet metal lining, a metal sheet bent in the direction of its lengthinto two angularly related parts, the edge of one of the parts beingvconnected with the bottom and the edge of the other part being connectedwith the lining of the vertical wall whereby a chamber isformed for thereception of the refrigerating coils and whereby two vertically spaceddisplay surfaces are formed.

4. A refrigerator display case having a cross section comprising a fiatbottom which is formed in part of heat insulating material and a rearwall which extends vertically along the rear edge of the bottom, a stileat the front edge of the bottom and projecting upwardly above the uppersurface of the bottom, an upwardly and forwardly inclined wall extendingfrom the upper end ofthe rear wall to a point about half the distancefrom the front to the rear, a fiat glass top extending from the frontedge of the upwardlyand forwardly inclined top member and a front glasswall extendingfrom the i top of the stile to the forward edge of theflat glass top,'the inner surface of the rear wall and of the bottomhaving a metal 1ining, the lower Vportion of the rear wall and the rearportion of the bottom forming two sides of a refrigerating chamber whoseother two walls are formed from a sheet metal plate bent into twoangularly related parts whose free edges are secured one to the linin ofthe bottom and the other to the lining o the rear Wall.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CHARLES B. LONGSTRETH.

Cil

